John Deere recently announced a further loosening of its grip upon the information and tools needed to fully repair and maintain its equipment in the US, which it indicates will have some spill over into Europe but not to the same extent.
What the company refers to as the new functionalities will be rolled out later in the year, and, it is claimed, will provide even more support to customers and independent repair workshops, including the ability to re-programme John-Deere-manufactured electronic controllers.
John Deere also pointed out that the legal framework for the US and EU market “differ in some cases” yet a dive into the EU legislation reveals that tractors are covered by Regulation (EU) No 167/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 February 2013 on the approval and market surveillance of agricultural and forestry vehicles.Â
Clarity of purpose
Within this legislation it is quite firmly laid out that “manufacturers shall provide non-discriminatory access to vehicle repair and maintenance information to authorised dealers, repairers and independent operators through websites using a standardised format in a readily accessible and prompt manner”.
In America, on the other hand, each state is responsible for right to repair legislation and that which has so far been enacted tends to focus on consumer goods with farm equipment being tagged on almost as an afterthought.
Information to enable repair
It is, on the surface, a quite distinct approach and although EU states have some say over a few minor details, the regulations would appear to lock into law the right of access to information to allow repair across the bloc.
It is the US that seems to be enacting legislation on a piecemeal basis.
Indeed, the EU rules were cemented into place in November of last year in an amending regulation which quite clearly states that “vehicle repair and maintenance information” means all information required for diagnosis, servicing, inspection, periodic monitoring, repair, reprogramming or reinitialising of the vehicle and which the manufacturers provide for their authorised dealers and repairers.
Thus, it appears that EU regulations will require manufacturers to provide all the information required to repair tractors and John Deere is simply staying ahead of the latest amendment to the legislation that comes into effect in 2026.
